Leading American investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill recently uncovered a secret CIA prison in Somalia. Big news? What a silly question, as he explained to ABC Radio PM last night: MARK COLVIN: Now you have reported this story in America and you’ve been interviewed about it in public on the media in America. Has there been…
Showing all posts tagged war on terror
Defending the right of David Hicks to live as a normal citizen
As Australian authorities attempt to pursue former Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks – tortured, held illegally and still pursued by leeches who love the authoritarian impulse of US foreign policy – a number of Australians, including me, are speaking out. Thanks to Overland journal for organising this: On 20 July 2011, the Australian government served…
How we’re “winning” in Afghanistan; backing death squads
Stunning report in the UK Independent. Adding to this detail is the presence of private mercenaries working alongside Afghan and Western forces committing acts that may be illegal. Accountability is non-existent. Much more on this in time: Covert forces of CIA-trained Afghan paramilitaries are being built up to continue the US-led war on the Taliban…
Jeremy Scahill on US media ignoring US-led war on terror black sites
Here’s Schaill’s stunning Nation story on CIA-led black sites in Somalia.
Our glorious wars are increasingly privatised
Governments know this and embrace it. As our “brave boys” come home from war zones, mercenaries replace them. Accountability? What’s that? With U.S. and Western military forces planning to gradually withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, there will be an increasing demand for private military contractors to provide security in both politically-troubled countries. As…
Targeting the contracting leeches in the “war on terror”
Since 9/11 countless corporations are making a killing in Iraq, Afghanistan, the US and beyond. It’s a privatised dream, as the US war machine now couldn’t survive without outsourcing help (including, according to a new report, Pentagon contractors writing their own contracts). Hackers and trouble-makers Anonymous have attacked Booz Allen Hamilton (a company with quite…
US (nearly) declares death of terrorism but will only expand wars
So let me get this right. The US spends billions annually to fight countless wars, defend the homeland, launch drone attacks against “enemies” in at least six countries and the threat is only this? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared Saturday that the United States is “within reach” of “strategically defeating” Al Qaeda as a terrorist…
Australia and Abu Ghraib; a cosy relationship
Years after this scandal exploded, we’re still receiving details on US allies being far too willing to excuse and defend abuses: Secret Defence documents obtained under freedom of information laws show an Australian officer, Major George O’Kane, was far more deeply involved in the operations of Abu Ghraib prison when terrible abuses of prisoners occurred…
How legally unprepared was Australia for invading Afghanistan?
According to new evidence, clearly deeply. Of course, we’ve seen countless examples in the US of senior government officials escaping any kind of punishment; it’s all about targeting individuals low down the food chain. When a so-called democracy refuses to take responsibility for illegal actions in war, little stops future leaders doing exactly the same…
How privatised war only brings profit before people
What the “war on terror” has become; countless companies making a killing. And what do they want? More war in more places: Najlaa International Catering Services won a $3 million five-year contract in February 2010 to prepare food for the U.S. Agency for International Development compound in Iraq. The deal was approved despite the fact…